


Comfort

by rudbeckia



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Kylux Cantina, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 01:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13939392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: For Kylux Cantina.A selection of short Kylux fics on the theme ofComfort





	1. Galactic Mac & Space Cheese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: comfort food

“No.”

It wasn’t a shout but there was force behind the refusal and the fork slid across the table seemingly of its own accord. Hux picked it up again, glared at Kylo and said, “Yes.”

Kylo turned away. Hux sighed. “Come on, Kylo. You have to eat if you want to heal. Bacta can only do so much and your own body has to do the rest.”

“I can’t eat that.”

Kylo would not even look at the meal Hux had prepared. It was his own favourite comfort food, and the medidroid who had analysed the recipe had declared it to contain adequate nutrition whilst being easily digestible for an injured adult human with no known intolerances or allergies. 

“You should. It’s perfect! Energy dense, good mix of macronutrients, help you recover.” Hux picked some up on the fork. “If you eat it.”

“You eat it then,” said Kylo snappishly. “Keep your mouth occupied instead of bothering me with talk.”

Hux shrugged and ate a forkful, the warm, rich cheese sauce contrasting with the slight texture of the pasta, a little extra flavour provided by the browned cheese crust. Before he realised that he was eating the invalid’s dinner, Hux had downed half the bowl.

“Mmm, I should make this more often but I rarely have the luxury of time or cooking facilities.” He offered the rest to Kylo, but Kylo edged further away and... was it Hux’s imagination or was that a tear beading at the corner of Kylo’s eye? “Well. I suppose I can bring you something else in an hour or so. You know, my mother used to make this for me when I was little. It always made me feel better.”

As Hux left the Supreme Leader’s suite, he thought he heard Kylo murmur, _mine too._


	2. Sanctuary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: the one where Kylo shows Hux his secret lair

“Where are you taking me?” Hux trotted along a metre behind Kylo. “I demand to know!”

“You’ll find out when we get there,” replied Kylo without looking round. “It’s somewhere I used to go sometimes. When I had to get—“

“Get what?” said Hux, getting a little out of breath. “Get drunk? Get lost? Get laid?”

“Ha! You should be so lucky!”

Kylo stopped abruptly at a small door the average eye would easily miss. It was the same grey as the durasteel wall in which it was set, and it had only a simple thumbprint scanner as security. Kylo peeled off his left glove and pressed his thumbpad to the scanner a few times until the red light flickered green and the door opened. Kylo went in and Hux followed.

“I don’t see why you’re so intent on showing me a broom cu—“ Hux stopped and stared.

“Not a broom cupboard. This was my sanctuary when I needed to get away from Snoke.” Kylo shook out his shoulders. “The walls are lined with an alloy that dampens the force a little.”

“Kylo,” Hux stepped forwards, deeper into Kylo’s lair, noting the basic comforts of a couch, a drinks dispenser and a standard bunk. He wondered how long Kylo could live here. “Why are you showing me this?”

“Because we need to build a little trust. I don’t have to hide from the Supreme Leader any more.” He reached his ungloved hand out and stroked Hux’s cheek. “But you might.”


	3. Bunking Off

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: sharing a bed

Kylo is exhausted. So is Hux—he can feel the man’s irritable mood—and they are both struggling to remain civil in front of the officers who have been allowed the luxury of a shift change every twelve hours. He thinks it would be easier if he trusted Hux a little and if Hux trusted him in return, but there is no way Kylo Ren is letting the squirmy little shit out of his sight in case he finds the entire firepower of the fleet accidentally trained on his location.

For his part, Hux is aware of the presence of Kylo Ren never more than a few footsteps away. His fatigue is becoming obvious and Hux allows a triumphant little quirk of his lips when Kylo Ren yawns wide and shakes his head. It wakes Hux up a little to think that he is the trained officer, the one used to the discipline of battle where the commanding officer never leaves the bridge. 

Except that often he does. He has to. This is why he has his captains: to relieve him so that he can grab an hour or so here and there and remain functional. Hux can feel the fog in his brain and hopes to the stars that there is not a renewed attack that would call for lightning quick decisions. 

Kylo stumbles on his feet then catches himself. Hux looks across into deep-set, dark-shadowed eyes with lids that ache to close and knows what he must do. He walks close to Kylo and mumbles, words running and slurring, but he knows Kylo has understood when he follows.

In the commanding officer’s room there is a bunk big enough for two if they lie close. Kylo collapses onto it first and Hux a second later. 

It’s two hours before the dorsal array sends a blip to the comms officer. She tells Peavey who orders her to summon the general. At the entrance to the commanding officer’s room, she pauses and smiles at the sight of the Supreme Leader asleep with General Hux nestled in his arms. For a moment, she thinks they could almost be lovers.


	4. Holovid and chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: a night in a fancy hotel

“Your keys, sirs,” said the attendant at reception. “Someone will bring your bags directly.”  
Kylo Ren shook his head and jerked a thumb at Hux. “No need. The only baggage I brought is him.”  
Hux glared but said nothing for fear of insulting their host, an imperial nostalgist with connections and credits the First Order wanted. Kylo waited for the express lift; Hux made for the stairs until a tight feeling in his joints prevented forward movement. He turned to wait with Kylo.

“You know,” Kylo said once the lift doors closed, “I don’t need to keep you right by my side all the time, do I?”  
Hux turned to stare. Kylo barely acknowledged that Hux had reacted, only a brief flicker of an eyelid showed that he was aware of the scrutiny.  
“I mean, I have the penthouse suite all to myself. Think how peaceful that will be for meditation. And you have your own standard single room without me in your space.” Kylo twitched a smile. “I am confident that this system harbours no ill will towards me and I will be safe from you. I mean, assassinating the Supreme Leader just before gaining access to that much petty cash would be a rather foolish move even for you.” 

Kylo could not contain his grin at Hux’s spluttering.   
“I should think you would show additional care, Supreme Leader! You can never tell what these slippery politicians and diplomats are thinking. That old Grand Admiral could be promising you whatever you want so that you are lulled into a false sense of security, then BANG your penthouse suite goes up like a badly regulated munitions dump.” Hux sighed. “I am afraid that the only sensible course of action is for you to take my room and sleep safely while I remain on guard in the penthouse suite.”

“Ah!” Kylo sighed dramatically and studied his fingernails. “But then perhaps you have already thought this out and there is an attack planned and you have arranged for us to have swapped rooms. In which case—”   
“Kylo, are you completely paranoid?” Hux scowled at the thought Kylo Ren would think him so crass. “Have it your way. I’d prefer my bunk to any of this lavish opulence anyway.”  
Kylo paused and smiled.   
“The only solution I can see is that we share the penthouse suite.”  
“What?”

The lift opened to reveal splendour beyond Hux’s experience. Kylo detected no threat, not even from the weaselly man standing beside him, so he bounded into the suite. There were two large sleeping chambers with their own ‘fresher units, a living room with the latest holovids, a dining room and a small kitchen. Hux wandered around with his initial look of distaste melting into longing when he read the room service menu Kylo shoved in front of his face.

“May I interest you, General,” said Kylo with a laugh under his voice, “in dinner and a movie? You don’t _have_ to sleep with me after but it would be nice.”


	5. A cur’s place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: a reassuring compliment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snoke isn’t dead yet.

The lift doors closed and it lurched into motion. Hux rounded on Kylo, teeth bared.   
“Do you also think of me as a rabid cur?”

Kylo wanted to laugh.  
“Sometimes,” replied Kylo, feeling hot anger radiate from the general. “There something feral about you when you’re all fired up.”

“FERAL?” snapped Hux. “I am the VERY EMBODIMENT of CONTROL!”

“Yes,” Hux was standing rigid with his fists clenched tight. Kylo could not hide the smile any longer. “I can see that.”

Hux contorted his face into a snarl. “I’m not the one who’s been brought to heel by Snoke. You’re the one on his leash, leaping at his command.”

“Really?” said Kylo. “If you had a tail you’d wag it when he pats your head. And you’d beg for more.”

Hux’s nostrils flared and he bit his lip. “I have command of my flagship and a significant portion of the fleet defers to me in battle. What have you got? A malfunctioning laser sword and some magic tricks. If Snoke were to drop dead, I could command the First Order while you would—”

Unable to breathe, Hux’s hands scrabbled at his throat and he looked, terrified, into the dark glare of Kylo Ren.  
“When Snoke dies, you will not command the First Order. I will succeed him as Supreme Leader and you’ll be my master strategist. Understand that your place is by my feet, cur.”

Kylo released Hux and Hux crashed to the floor. He got up again within seconds. Kylo frowned at him.  
“What are you looking so smug about?”

“You,” replied Hux. “You called me a master strategist and admitted that you need me to command the military when you’re Supreme Leader. It’s rather reassuring.”

It was Kylo’s turn to growl.  
“I could so easily change my mind.”


	6. Oven-Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: body warmth

_“General!”_  
“Receiving!”  
_“Transmitting coordinates. Target motionless.”_  
“Understood.”

Hux hauled himself across packed snow, the blizzard rendering his eyes useless despite the full face shield he wore. The internal head-up display tracked his head movements and overlaid the terrain of this abominable planet. A red dart lit up his path to the target, he adjusted the survival pack on his shoulders and trudged on.

The terrain display outlined a cavern, accessible through a crevasse in a wall of ice up ahead. The red dart hovered over it and Hux increased his pace at the promise of shelter. The troop transports and shuttles couldn’t land in this and the only comfort Hux took from his situation was that the fool, Peavey, was stuck somewhere in this miserable blizzard too. Otherwise Hux was sure the imperial relic would file a report lamenting his general’s unfortunate demise on an unwise personal mission then make off with The Finalizer. Hux smiled grimly. After all, it’s what he would have done.

Approaching the cavern, Hux found he could walk more upright as the wind swirled more gently here. He ducked into the crevasse and found the cavern, and in the cavern he found Kylo Ren. Kylo was curled up on the frozen ground, normally deep red lips turned pale, skin deathly in the light from Hux’s blizzard shield. Hux swung his pack down and cursed.

_Sithdamn it, Kylo! You’re not dying in this shithole planet. I still need you._

Hux emptied his pack. It was standard equipment that he was well drilled in using. He started with the emergency heater, a one-shot device that would provide meagre warmth for a couple of hours, the thermal groundsheet and the foil-lined bivouac bag. As soon as the heater’s chemicals mixed and ignited, Hux hauled Ren partway up from the ground. He was soaked through, skin cold to the touch and not even shivering.

“Sit up, Kylo! I know you can hear me. You’re not quite dead yet.”  
Kylo’s eyelids fluttered and Hux patted his face. Kylo sat, slumped forward and unresisting as Hux hauled off his wet clothing and wrapped him in the bivouac bag.  
“You’re in stage two hypothermia, you stupid arse. Bet you thought the force would keep you warm.”

Hux sat on the groundsheet beside Kylo, pulling Kylo’s head into his lap so that he could more easily monitor Kylo’s condition. Kylo’s pulse and breathing were both slow, although for all Hux knew that could have been normal for Kylo Ren. He warmed his hand by the inadequate heater, tested the temperature against his own skin, then slipped his hand inside the bivouac bag to feel the temperature of Kylo’s skin. Still cold, too cold.

_You’re going to hate this when you realise what I’m about to do. Believe me, I’ll be hating it too._

Hux sighed, stood up and wrestled his way out of his own clothing. The stormcoat he laid on the ground for additional padding. His tunic and breeches he rolled up as a makeshift pillow. He arranged the small comforts as best he could then eased himself into the bivouac bag beside Kylo, wincing and huffing at the cold. Hux settled behind Kylo, with Kylo nearest the heater, his arm around Kylo’s middle and Kylo’s back pulled tight to his chest. When he could bear it. Hux brought his knees up to fit behind Kylo’s thighs and settled one calf across Kylo’s lower leg. After a minute of discomfort, Hux pushed his other arm under the arch formed by Kylo’s neck and held around Kylo’s chest.

_If we are found frozen to death like this by Edrisson Fucking Peavey, I will never live it down. You better recover before the blizzard ends and they send a transport to recover our ice-bound corpses._

***

Kylo woke slowly, reluctantly, confused about where he was and why it was so cold. He shifted and his uncomfortable bunk crinkled. Memories drifted without settling into any pattern and for just a few seconds he was back in his round hut, in his bunk with the warm body of another padawan behind him, just beginning to regret having agreed to share the bottle of cloying sweet wine his friend had brought back from a family visit. It felt so real he almost called the name of the boy he knew to be dead.

He opened his eyes. The dim, blue light that filtered through layer upon layer of snow compacted into the glacier let him see the burned-out heater and the dark shapes of his clothing spread out around the far side of it. He closed his eyes and reached out: the howl of the wind in his ears, the first sting of snow against his forehead, the loss of feeling and creeping fatigue as he searched for... for... something hidden. He remembered stumbling into the cavern, feeling the wind roar uselessly outside while he was safe and warm and could sleep at last.

Kylo’s head pounded and he groaned. Almost instantly, the warm body behind him shifted.  
“Oh? You’re still alive after all! Welcome back.”  
“Ugh.”  
“Well that’s a fine thank you for saving your frozen hide. Here. Sit up and drink this.”

Kylo sat, mainly because Hux sat up and Kylo missed the warmth of his skin. Hux twisted the base of a self-heating can of caf and handed it to Kylo. Kylo sniffed it, made a face, then sipped the warm caf slowly. He threw the empty can at the spent heater.  
“Why are _you_ here?”  
“Because _you_ are, Kylo. This is the second time I’ve had to find you in the snow. Might not be so lucky third time.”  
“You saved my life!”  
“Yes, well. Don’t make me regret it.”

Hux got up and Kylo hugged the bivouac bag around himself, but it wasn’t the same. Hux dressed quickly in the frozen cave and felt Kylo’s clothing.  
“I’m afraid your things are all still too wet to wear. You’d freeze again in minutes.” Hux thumbed his commlink. “I’ll have to call a transport to our location and we can get you aboard quickly as soon as the blizzard clears... Ah! Good. On its way. I’ll order the corridors cleared for you. The fewer people who see the Supreme Leader looking like a celebration-sized oven-ready roast, the better.”

***

Hux woke groggy and wondered if he’d slept through his alarm. He checked his chrono: he could sleep for another three hours and definitely should not be awake. Sound and movement startled him. He was definitely not alone.  
_Hush. Sleep._  
It was tempting. He felt comfortable fatigue and the promise of safe sleep almost take him, until a heavy arm slipped across his chest and settled. He leapt out of bed and stared in surprise.  
“What are you doing in my bed?”  
Kylo smiled and shrugged.  
“I was cold on my own. Didn’t think you’d mind since you need me.”


End file.
